14

Understanding Motivation:
Building the Brain Architecture
That Supports Learning, Health,
and Community Participation
WORKING PAPER 14
 MEMBERS
Jack P. Shonkoff, M.D., Chair
Julius B. Richmond FAMRI Professor of Child Health and
Development, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
and Harvard Graduate School of Education; Profes-
sor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School and Boston
Children’s Hospital; Director, Center on the Developing
Child, Harvard University
Pat Levitt, Ph.D, Science Co-Chair
Simms/Mann Chair in Developmental Neurogenetics,
Institute for the Developing Mind, Children’s Hospital
Los Angeles; W.M. Keck Provost Professor in Neuroge-
netics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern
California
Nathan A. Fox, Ph.D., Science Co-Chair
Distinguished University Professor; Director, Child Devel-
opment Laboratory, University of Maryland College Park
Silvia A. Bunge, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Psychcology and Helen Wills
Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley
Judy Cameron, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, Obstetrics-
Gynecology Reproductive Sciences, and Clinical and
Translational Science, University of Pittsburgh; Director
of Outreach, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh
Greg J. Duncan, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor, Department of Education,
University of California, Irvine
SPONSORS
Philip A. Fisher, Ph.D.
The Alliance for Early
Philip H. Knight Chair; Professor of Psychology, Univer-
Success sity of Oregon; Senior Fellow, Center on the Developing
Child at Harvard University
The Annie E. Casey
Foundation Megan R. Gunnar, Ph.D.
Regents Professor and Distinguished McKnight Univer-
sity Professor, Institute of Child Development, University
Buffett Early Childhood of Minnesota
Fund
Genentech
Takao Hensch, Ph.D.
Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard
Faculty of Arts and Sciences; Professor of Neurology,
Harvard Medical School at Children’s Hospital
Fernando D. Martinez, M.D.
Regents Professor; Director of the Arizona Respiratory
Center; Director of BIO5 Institute; Director of the Clinical
and Translational Science Institute; Swift-McNear Profes-
sor of Pediatrics, University of Arizona
Bruce S. McEwen, Ph.D.
Alfred E. Mirsky Professor; Head, Harold and Margaret
Miliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology; The
Rockefeller University
Charles A. Nelson, Ph.D.
Professor of Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Harvard
Medical School; Professor of Education, Harvard Gradu-
ate School of Education; Richard David Scott Chair in
Pediatric Developmental Medicine Research, Boston
Children’s Hospital
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We gratefully acknowledge the significant contributions
to this paper made by:
Kent C. Berridge, Ph.D.
James Olds Distinguished University Professor of
Psychology and Neuroscience, James Olds Collegiate
Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of
Michigan
Elliot Berkman, Ph.D
Associate Professor of Psychology; Associate Director of
the Center for Translational Neuroscience, University of
Oregon
Deborah Stipek, Ph.D.
Judy Koch Professor of Education, Stanford Graduate
School of Education
PARTNERS
FrameWorks Institute

About the Authors

The LEGO Foundation
The National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, housed at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard
University, is a multi-­disciplinary collaboration designed to bring the science of early childhood and early brain devel-
The David and Lucile opment to bear on public decision-­making. Established in 2003, the Council is committed to an evidence-based ap-
Packard Foundation proach to building broad-based public will that transcends political partisanship and recognizes the complementary
responsibilities of family, community, workplace, and government to promote the well-being of all young children.
Palix Foundation For more information, go to www.developingchild.net.

Pritzker Children’s Please note: The content of this paper is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the
Initiative opinions of the funders or partners.

Suggested citation: National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. (2018). Understanding Motivation: Building
The Simms/Mann Family the Brain Architecture That Supports Learning, Health, and Community Participation: Working Paper No. 14. Retrieved
Foundation from www.developingchild.harvard.edu

© December 2018, National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard
Tikun Olam Foundation University

DECEMBER 2018
The Issue
A healthy, engaged community depends on people achieving to the best of their
potential, contributing actively to the economy and public well-being, and helping the next
generation to thrive. A complex set of intertwined social and biological factors influences peo-
ple’s motivation to participate actively and productively in schools, jobs, and communities—
and to persevere in the face of setbacks. To unlock this puzzle and ensure that all people have
the opportunity to develop motivation to learn, improve skills, and make healthy choices, it
would be helpful to understand the underlying mechanisms in the brain that develop in child-
hood and build the foundation for later complex behavior (see page 7 for more information).

The brain circuits underlying motivation
are critical for attention, learning, and
decision-making. When these circuits have
either not developed in a balanced and
healthy way or have been chemically hijacked
by addictions, challenging life circumstances
can overpower the best of intentions. Programs
intended to support parents and children
facing adversity often find that participation
is one of their greatest challenges. Dropping
out of school and not participating in
family support, job training, or addiction
programs—all of these are reflections of
motivation systems that have been disrupted
by threat or hardship. Substantial scientific
knowledge can inform the search for solutions
by helping us understand what leads to these
behaviors.
The brain systems that govern motivation
are built over time, starting in the earliest
years of development. These intricate neural
circuits and structures are shaped by interac-
tions between the experiences we have and
the genes we are born with, which together
influence both how our motivation systems
develop and how they function later in life.
Providing children with the kinds of early
life experiences that support the develop-
ment of healthy, balanced motivation systems
is key to ensuring positive outcomes later—
for school, work, health, and raising the next
generation.

The Science of Motivation

In the brain, motivation is the result
of neurons (brain cells) in specific regions
sending chemical signals via high-speed
neural networks to other regions, creating
pathways for future signals to follow.
Experiences trigger the release of these
chemicals to regions that connect emotions,
memory, and the sensation of pleasure or
reward. This links the feeling of reward to the
emotions we felt and the experience that led to
it—and that influences both our expectations
of reward and the actions we are motivated
to take in order to get it. Given the appeal of
anticipating an immediate reward, it takes
strong self-regulation to resist these powerful
memories and cues in favor of a long-term
reward.
The chemicals, which include dopamine,
serotonin, norepinephrine, glutamate,1-2 and
naturally occurring opioids that are produced
in the brain, each serve different purposes.
For example, when dopamine
is released, it signals to the
rest of the brain that some-
thing important is about
to happen—something
that we should enjoy
or avoid at all costs.
(See page 7 for more
information on the
brain chemicals and
regions involved in motivation.)

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NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL ON THE DEVELOPING CHILD
There are two types of motivation: one di-
rected toward expected rewards (known
as approach motivation) and another di-
rected away from threat (known as avoid-
ance motivation). In other words, we can
be motivated either to seek pleasure or to
avoid danger. Both kinds of motivation are
necessary for survival, and supportive devel-
opmental processes create a healthy balance
between the two. When they are out of
balance, excessive reward-seeking or
danger-avoidance can lead to a range of
disorders, including attention-deficit/hyperac-
tivity, depression, substance abuse,
anxiety, and post-traumatic
stress.3-6 Both types of
motivation develop
in childhood and
are strongly influ-
enced by what’s hap-
pening in a child’s
environment.7 For
example, the con-
sistent presence of
a supportive adult
in a child’s life can
calm an overactivat-
ed amygdala, an area of
the brain that is critical for
learning fear and responding
to threat. The result is a bal-
anced system that assesses and re-
sponds to real threats appropriately. On the
other hand, children who are raised in abu-
sive, chaotic, or scary environments with-
out supportive adults tend to be more likely
to perceive experiences as threatening—and
respond to them as threats—but less likely
to expect rewards when they do something
positive.8 Here, the systems become overly
attuned to impulsive self-protection and less
to long-term goal achievement.
• Approach motivation is key to most
forms of learning. Anticipating a re-
ward—which can be any experience
that causes pleasure, from the taste
of a delicious food to the satisfac-
tion of achieving a goal or the glow
of an act of kindness—triggers a do-
pamine surge. That surge is a signal
to expect new experiences that are
2  Understanding Motivation WWW.DEVELOPINGCHILD.HARVARD.EDU
worth seeking out and learning from.
The surge also increases communi-
cation between the brain region re-
sponsible for dopamine release and
the regions responsible for emotion
and memory. As a result, our memo-
ries of the learning experience become
linked with the reward received and
the emotions we felt.9-11 Strong emo-
tional connections to memories help us
retrieve them more readily. The decisions
made in order to receive a short-term re-
ward may not always achieve a long-term
benefit, as anyone tempted by a
delicious dessert under-
stands, but the brain is
attuned to experi-
ences that have
previously led to
a reward, and it
learns to pre-
dict which ex-
periences are
likely to trig-
ger the reward
again.
• Avoidance
motivation
dire c ts us away f rom
t hre atening or unple as-
ant exp er iences. Avoidance
motivation—which we associate with
the emotions of fear or disgust—often
involves activation of the amygdala.12
When the amygdala is activated in re-
sponse to threat, norepinephrine and
other stress hormones are released,
triggering what is often called the “fight
or flight” response: increases in heart
rate, blood glucose levels, and oxygen
intake to the brain, and a temporary
shutdown of less mission-critical func-
tions, such as the digestive or metabol-
ic systems. This response may be trig-
gered by an instinctual detection and
response to threat or by the conscious
awareness of a potential threat (physi-
cal or emotional). Disgust protects us
from ingesting or touching repulsive
and often unhealthy substances. Fear
and disgust—both the result of avoid-
ance motivation—develop in the brain

even before language: Babies feel afraid
well before they can say that the feel-
ing is fear, and are able to express dis-
gust as early as the first day of life.13
Avoidance motivation can also be
learned through experience—when the
brain correctly or incorrectly predicts
how serious a particular threat may
be, it learns whether (and how much)
to avoid it in the future. But while im-
portant for survival, the avoidance re-
sponse can actually inhibit higher-level
learning by focusing the brain’s activ-
ity on immediate response rather than
planning to attain a long-range goal or
resisting an impulsive behavior.
Both approach and avoidance motivation
are influenced by intrinsic (internal)
drivers and extrinsic (external) feedback.
While all organisms have the intrinsic drive
to survive, approach reward, and avoid
threat, we may also be motivated by the
inherent pleasure and satisfaction derived
from an activity. Although neuroscientific
understanding of intrinsic motivation is still
quite recent, it is believed that intrinsically
motivating experiences trigger a dopamine
surge, signaling the anticipation of pleasure.14
Once their basic needs are met, young
children are motivated intrinsically by
exploration, active involvement in play,
and achieving mastery or success in a task,
whether banging a spoon to make a noise or
solving a problem. This kind of motivation
is important for learning and development
because it leads to intense engagement in a
task and mastery is associated with pride and
satisfaction.15
Intrinsic drivers are considered to be
the strongest and most lasting motivators,
especially in early childhood, but positive
feedback can support and reinforce the
inherent feelings of satisfaction or pleasure.
For example, satisfaction from mastery is
supported by positive feedback from an
authority figure. But while positive feedback
is important in boosting a child’s self-
confidence, in some cases, external rewards
have been shown to undermine intrinsic
drivers. That is, children are less likely to
engage spontaneously in activities after they
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THE SCIENCE OF MOTIVATION
have received a tangible reward for having
performed them.16 When traditional school
systems rely heavily on extrinsic feedback,
such as grades and awards, this can lead to
a shift from the intrinsic drive to learn to a
desire for external recognition and accolades
or avoidance of failure or punishment. While
extrinsic motivation may be effective for
some in the short term, it is unlikely to last.
Once their basic needs are met, young children
are motivated intrinsically by exploration, active
involvement in play, and achieving mastery or
success in a task.
The combination of intrinsic drivers supported
by positive extrinsic feedback is best for
building a healthy motivation system, but
extrinsic feedback by itself is not an effective
driver of behavior over the long term.17
In approach motivation, there is a
“wanting” system and a “liking” system,
which can separate the desire to have
an experience from the reward that is
actually experienced. Most people are not
directly aware of the underlying processes
of wanting or liking—that is, it is possible to
want something at a deep, physiological level
without being conscious of the pleasure it
elicits.
The intense desire for experiencing pleasure,
or “wanting,” is generated in the brain by
the dopamine network, which connects the
regions of the brain that trigger automatic,
“non-thinking” responses to those that
manage memories, emotions, and behaviors.18
The circuits that connect the reward, the
action that led to it, and the emotions felt
at the time are so strong that even when the
reward is withheld or diminished, the brain
will still prompt us to repeat the action that
initially led to the reward. That can produce
“wanting” (the desire for the experience)
without “liking” (the actual pleasure or
reward that is felt). This separation explains
why some people engage in once-rewarding
behaviors past the point where they are
enjoyable, like eating too much dessert or
drinking too much alcohol.
NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL ON THE DEVELOPING CHILD
The “liking” system, on the other hand,
is highly localized within a small region
of the brain. When naturally occurring
opioids, endocannabinoids, and serotonin
are transmitted, they must be received by
this region to activate the actual feeling of
pleasure rather than the craving for it. The
liking system, therefore, consists of narrower,
more fragile circuits than the wanting
system, and thus is less easily activated.19 The
fragililty of these circuits may be one reason
why intense pleasure is harder to experience
than intense desire.7 For example, the smell of
a candy store may trigger “wanting” based on
past memories linking sweets to pleasure. But
the actual experience of eating the candy—
Wanting System
Widespread, robust network across multiple
regions of the brain
Activated through connections involving the
reward, the action that led to it, and the emotions
felt at the time
Even when a reward is diminished or absent, the
brain will still prompt “wanting”
How Motivation Systems Develop
The brain’s motivation systems are
particularly sensitive during certain periods
of early childhood development, when infants
and young children are learning approach,
avoidance, and attachment behaviors.
While genes provide the basic blueprint
for the motivation circuits, disruptions in
developmentally appropriate experiences
during these sensitive periods can affect
how the circuits develop and the behaviors
they shape. For example, a child can become
more highly attuned to avoidance than
approach, which would reduce motivation
to try new activities. Because the timing of
the development of motivation systems is
so important, different kinds of experiences
may have different impacts at different
stages—the influence of peers, for example,
4  Understanding Motivation WWW.DEVELOPINGCHILD.HARVARD.EDU
or of eating too much—may not be nearly as
pleasurable as the memory.
Typically, the pleasure received during
liking triggers wanting, but people dealing
with addiction often want substances or
experiences intensely even when pleasure is
no longer obtained from them. That’s because
repeated exposure to many addictive drugs
causes the wanting systems to activate more
easily and strongly. At the same time, over-
stimulation of the liking system (through, for
example, artificial opioids and opiates) can
lead to the need for increasing amounts of the
drug to achieve the same effect. Therefore,
wanting the drug increases even while the
liking for a given dose may fade.20-21(See page
7 for more information.)
Liking System
Highly localized within a small region of the brain
Activated when dopamine, serotonin, and naturally
occurring opioids are received in this specific brain
region
The dopamine system triggers less neural activity
over time, leading to reduced pleasure from the
same experiences
is much stronger in adolescence than in early
childhood.
Especially in the early years of life, adults
caring for a child strongly influence the
development of the brain and motivation
system. Infants learn best through interac-
tions with parents and other important adult
caregivers who establish responsive, sup-
portive relationships with them. The brain is
biologically prepared to form strong, lasting
emotional connections to these caregivers, a
bond known as attachment.
Research shows that there are different
sensitive periods in which attachment figures
affect motivation early in life. In the earliest
period, babies learn simple preferences
among pleasant and unpleasant experiences.

Then they begin to distinguish between
threats that truly need to be avoided and
those that are less dangerous—here, the
supportive presence of a trusted adult can
have a buffering effect.22 For example, a loud
noise may startle a child, but if children
are in the presence of someone they are
attached to and feel secure with, and who
responds supportively, they will be less likely
to experience high levels of stress. Without
these relationships—or in situations where
these primary relationships are themselves a
frequent source of fear—an imbalance may
develop between approach and avoidance
responses.
During adolescence, the motivation sys-
tem is increasingly influenced by peers,
exploration, and performance feedback.
Adolescence represents a period of adjust-
ment to increased independence; it is also a
time of social reorientation from the influ-
ence of parents to peers. During this time,
relationships with peers become more com-
plex and intimate. They require greater social
understanding and become more rewarding.
Adolescence is also a time of neural and be-
havioral flexibility and change. Because dif-
ferent regions of the brain mature at different
rates, during adolescence, the neural circuits
involved in cognitive, emotional, and social
information processing are at different stag-
es of development and reorganization, and
have not yet achieved their adult balance.
Typically, adolescents show stronger neu-
ral responses to social acceptance and rejec-
tion than adults. This may explain why youth
seem especially sensitive to negative social
feedback, and why positive social feedback
and acceptance are so rewarding.
Social interaction induces an increase in
natural opioids and activates the region of
the brain responsible for releasing dopamine
and serotonin.23-24 The pleasure of social ac-
ceptance is present early in life and remains
important in adulthood, but is especially
powerful in adolescence when the brain is
particularly tuned into these rewards. The
anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a portion of
WWW.DEVELOPINGCHILD.HARVARD.EDU Understanding Motivation  5
HOW MOTIVATION SYSTEMS DEVELOP
the brain that monitors and appraises social
acceptance and exclusion, plays a key role in
reward-based decision-making and learning.
Because the timing of the development of
motivation systems is so important, different
kinds of experiences may have different
impacts at different stages.
Researchers have found that children who
were chronically rejected, or had been emo-
tionally abused or neglected, had a more ac-
tive ACC and showed heightened sensitivity
to the neurotransmitters released as a result
of social exclusion.25 So, while all adoles-
cents are strongly motivated by social feed-
back, those who have experienced emotional
abuse or rejection are even more motivated
by it.26
The cognitive and emotional development
and increased cognitive flexibility that occurs
during adolescence creates both opportuni-
ties and challenges. The increased sensitivity
to social rewards can lead to an inclination
toward risk-taking and self-oriented acts,
but also powers exploratory learning and
the ability to adapt to different social con-
texts and cultures. Adolescents learn both by
personal exploration and external feedback
on their performance. For example, positive
feedback can increase motivation by signal-
ing to an adolescent that a goal is of high val-
ue and attainable. If the youth has low com-
mitment to the goal, positive feedback can
reinforce the feeling that he or she is on the
right track. When someone is strongly com-
mitted to the goal already, critical feedback
may be effective because it points out the dis-
crepancy between where the youth currently
is and where he or she wants to be.27 For ex-
ample, an athlete who is intrinsically driven
to participate in a particular sport may be
motivated to improve on weaknesses by a
coach’s constructive criticism, but a student
who is less drawn to the sport may be moti-
vated more by encouragement—and might
disengage as a result of criticism.
 NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL ON THE DEVELOPING CHILD
How Motivation and Reward Systems Can Be Disrupted
Excessive stress and a lack of positive
relationships can derail the development
of well-balanced motivation systems.
Children who experience a safe, supportive,
and predictable environment develop
healthy motivation systems that are driven
by a balance of approach and avoidance,
and of wanting and liking. Children whose
environment is chaotic and stressful, however,
may develop motivation systems that are
driven by avoidance and focused on fear.
Environmental factors can actually change
the mapping of the nucleus accumbens, a key
region of the brain that receives dopamine.
In animal studies, stressful environments
resulted in this region expanding its fear-
generating zone, while shrinking the zone
that generates desire. Conversely, calm, quiet
environments expanded desire-generation
and reduced fear-generation.28
Children whose environment is chaotic and stressful
may develop motivation systems that are driven by
avoidance and focused on fear.
Research has also shown that, when the
stress response is activated repeatedly, the
brain adapts by identifying threats more
frequently and reacting to them more
strongly—even if the sources of stress do
not increase in severity. Over time, that
increasingly stronger stress reaction may
reshape circuits in the hippocampus, which
controls memory, or the amygdala, which is
involved in emotional reactions.
While a responsive, consistent relationship
with an adult can suppress the release of
stress hormones in an infant’s brain, the
reverse is also true. Studies find that children
can over-learn fear from the adults around
them, which affects the amygdala and may
have long-term consequences for a child’s
health, learning, and social relationships.23
Expressing fear is not always a bad thing: for
example, an urgent warning from a mother
when her child is moving a finger toward an
6  Understanding Motivation WWW.DEVELOPINGCHILD.HARVARD.EDU
electrical socket will help the child learn to
avoid the socket. But excessive or misdirected
fear by a primary caregiver can lead a child to
lose interest in healthy exploration when the
motivation to avoid threat overpowers the
motivation to approach new experiences.
Feeling helpless and believing that
abilities are fixed and unchangeable can
disrupt the brain’s motivational systems.
The motivation to act also requires some
expectation of success.29 Indeed, successfully
making things happen is rewarding in
and of itself. We can observe this even in
very young infants. If a ribbon is tied to an
infant’s leg and the other end attached to a
mobile, when the baby notices that when she
kicks the mobile moves, she will kick more
vigorously.30 She may also smile and gurgle
until the ribbon is untied from the mobile,
and then kick vigorously and cry angrily.31
When a child does not see any effects from
her actions, it produces what is termed
“learned helplessness.” People who learn
that they are helpless often give up even in
situations in which they can be successful.32
Researchers are also finding that how
children and adults think about skills and
talents makes a big difference in whether they
are motivated to keep trying. If skills and
talents are thought of as fixed—something
people either have or don’t have—an initial
failure is likely to be attributed to a lack of
natural ability and, in turn, it may decrease
motivation. This is called a fixed mindset.
On the other hand, if skills and talents are
seen as capacities that can be developed
through practice—a growth mindset—then
a failure signals the need to develop the
skill or talent through continued effort
and practice. Evidence shows that mindset
interventions with adolescents can improve
academic performance, particularly among
low-achieving teens.33-34
Notably, adults sometimes inadvertently
lead children to develop a fixed mindset when
we praise them for being smart, or for their
talent in a particular domain, as if the ability
 HOW MOTIVATION AND REWARD SYSTEMS CAN BE DISRUPTED

Key Brain Regions and Chemicals for Motivation and Reward

Regions Chemicals
Amygdala Dopamine
“Emotion Trigger”—rapidly assesses A key factor in “wanting,” dopamine
incoming information from the environment modulates neural activity when
and activates either approach or avoidance a rewarding event has occurred.
behaviors. This structure is critical for Increases in dopamine reinforce the
threat detection and learned fear. behaviors that elicited the reward
and lead individuals to seek out
Hippocampus
and learn from new experiences in
“Memory Center”—lays down
anticipation of a positive outcome.
detailed memories of events and
triggers retrieval of these memories Serotonin
when presented with a relevant A key factor in “liking,” serotonin
cue. This structure also is involved combines with other neurochemicals
in regulating the duration of stress to convey euphoria and has the widest
responses to environmental stimuli. distribution in the brain. Serotonin
modulates a wide array of behaviors,
Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) including a major influence on emotional
“Behavior Tracker”—monitors the states, sleep cycles, eating, and other
environment as well as one’s own rewarding behaviors.
behavior and others’ (such as
social exclusion). This region sounds Glutamate
the alarm when behavior needs to The primary, fast chemical neurotransmitter in
be modified, mobilizing regions in the brain that excites and communicates with
the prefrontal cortex involved in self- neurons across synapses.
regulation and decision-making.
Norepinephrine
Prefrontal Cortex Triggers “fight or flight” response, which increases
“Air Traffic Control”—manages executive functions, self- heart rate, glucose, and oxygen intake to the
regulation, behavioral control, planning, and complex brain, and temporarily shuts down less mission-
decision-making. critical functions. Norepinephrine works in part by
activating attention systems to the most important
Nucleus Accumbens stimuli in the environment at that moment.
“Reward Anticipator”—evaluates stimuli that produce
wanting or liking responses. This structure also plays an Endocannabinoids
important role in learning from feedback and in reward- Regulate neuronal activity caused by dopamine
based decision-making. and related behaviors and work with opioids and
serotonin to produce euphoria.
Substantia Nigra/Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA)
“Dopamine Distributors”—produce the brain chemical Opioids
dopamine and deliver it to other regions of the brain that are A class of naturally occurring chemicals, such as
involved in motor function and in motivating and rewarding endorphins, that reduce pain and can produce
behaviors. euphoria. Opioids are released by the body
during exercise and pleasurable activities. Use of
Raphe Nuclei artificial opioids, such as heroin and a number of
“Serotonin Distributors”—produce the neurotransmitter prescription painkillers, can desensitize the reward
serotonin and deliver it to a wide network of circuits across circuitry of the brain and result in addiction that
the brain, including structures related to motivation, reward, increases drug-seeking.
and threat detection.
Illustration by Betsy Hayes

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NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL ON THE DEVELOPING CHILD
is something that they possess naturally,
and not something they can develop over
time. Modeling is also important and can
influence a sense of self-efficacy. A study in
which infants witnessed one adult working
hard to achieve a specific goal and another
succeeding at a goal effortlessly found that
infants persisted at a novel task more after
observing the high-effort example.35-36
Instrinsic motivation can either be
encouraged or suppressed by the
experiences adults provide for children.
Thus, even babies are sensitive to what they
witness regarding the relationship between
effort and outcome.
Addictive drugs and behaviors can
hijack the brain’s motivation and reward
systems. The overwhelming compulsion
to seek and take drugs or alcohol, or engage
in a range of pleasure-stimulating activities
such as gambling or casual sex, involves
both positive and negative reinforcement.
By flooding the nucleus accumbens with
dopamine, these activities provide a short-
cut to pleasure, bypassing the time and effort
required to trigger similiar positive feelings
of reward that are generated by achieving
a goal or mastering a skill. Other parts of
the brain create memories of this rapid
Implications for Parents, Caregivers, and Teachers
The intrinsic motivation to learn about
the world around us begins in infancy. This
type of motivation can either be encouraged
or suppressed by the experiences adults
provide for children. Psychological research
points to a set of promising approaches that
parents and practitioners can use to promote
positive motivation and learning during
development.
• Follow babies’ lead. Babies naturally
orient toward novel objects and
events. They look away from objects
that are overly familiar, but also from
new ones that are too complex. This
8  Understanding Motivation WWW.DEVELOPINGCHILD.HARVARD.EDU
experience of pleasure and connect them to
the wanting and liking systems. By contrast,
these activities may also temporarily suppress
the intensity of negative emotions, leading to
their use as self-medication. Stated simply,
these experiences can quickly ramp up good
feelings and tamp down bad feelings—but
only temporarily. This can create a spiral
of dysregulation, in which the addictive
experience triggers initial pleasure, followed
by negative emotions and physical craving,
which can only be suppressed by the
addictive behavior.37
Addictive drugs can often release more
dopamine than natural rewards. This over-
stimulation of cells that receive dopamine
can, over time, change the neural pathways
and chemistry in the motivation systems.
As a result, the brain becomes less and less
affected by dopamine, at least as long as the
drug continues to be taken.38 However, the
wanting systems can become permanently
hyper-reactive to drug cues, even after ending
drug use. In other words, the repeated use of
a short-cut to pleasure creates circuitry that
is so strongly associated with memories of
pleasure that the wanting system produces
powerful urges to follow it, even when the
pleasure itself fades. Ultimately, the mere
memory of the behavior—and even the
associations of people or places with the
behavior—can lead to the impulsive actions
that characterize addiction.39
is sometimes called the “Goldilocks
effect:” things are interesting when
they are novel, but not too novel.40
When interacting with infants, notice
what they pay attention to, and engage
with them around their interests.
• Elicit curiosity. Infants seek to
explore objects—especially those that
behave in surprising ways. When
they drop something on the floor or
throw it, they’re trying to see what
will happen next.41 Provide infants
with opportunities to interact with
 IMPLICATIONS FOR PARENTS, CAREGIVERS, AND TEACHERS

new objects—and let them lead and
learn!
• Encourage children’s playful explo-
ration. When given the opportunity,
children of all ages spontaneously en-
gage in play. The ingredients of play
are precisely the ones that fuel learn-
ing: play is intrinsically motivating,
it presents an opportunity for novel
experiences and for learning from
others, it requires active engagement,
and it can strengthen social bonds
and reduce stress. When life is busy
or chaotic, it can be hard to find the
time and space to encourage children’s
play, but this is an important aspect of
development.42
• Prioritize social interaction during
learning. In the digital age, there are
many educational, computer-based
applications designed for children,
even as young as 6 months.43-44
However, even the best-designed and
most effective apps cannot replace
real-life social interactions with adults
and peers. In one study, babies learned
elements of language more effectively
when face-to-face with a teacher or
caregiver than when watching her
on video.45 Recent research shows
that young children can learn from
digital media, such as touch-screen
tablets, but social interaction during
this learning experience appears to be
essential.46

Five Facts About Motivation That Are Often Misunderstood

1
Motivation comes from a set of neurochemical networks that develop over time, as a result of the
experiences we have. Despite the common misperception that some people just naturally have
or lack motivation, science shows that the nature of caregiving relationships and opportunities
for safe exploration that we provide young children affect the development of these systems—for
better or for worse.

2
The best way to sustain motivation is to support internal drivers with the right kind of external
feedback. Carrots (rewards) and sticks (punishments) are not the only ways to motivate people.
Systems focused solely on external rewards and punishments are unlikely to achieve sustained,
productive motivation; those that balance intrinsically motivating activities—such as creative
problem-solving and playful learning—with positive feedback are more likely to support healthy
motivation over the long run.

3 Addictions divert motivation systems and require more than willpower to overcome. Addictions
chemically hijack the basic biological systems that have evolved for optimal survival. Addiction
does not reflect a simple lack of conscious effort or a “failure of character;” managing addictions
requires blocking these chemical diversions below the conscious level.

4 Motivation is complicated and has many influences. Behavior is affected by the experiences and
conditions that shape a mindset that goal achievement is possible—and, critically, by having the
resources, time, skills, and supports that make successful action feasible. It is incorrect to say that
if anyone wants something badly enough, he or she will find a way to do it.

5 Providing a predictable reward is not enough to sustain motivation over time. Experiences that are
exactly as expected every time lose their novelty, and eventually elicit less neural activity in the
dopamine system. When we experience a reward that is better than predicted, the brain will prefer
that experience in the future; if the reward is less than expected, the brain will ultimately exhibit
less motivation toward that experience. So “keeping things fresh,” whether through new activities,
different locations, or a different reward, is good advice for sustaining motivation.14

WWW.DEVELOPINGCHILD.HARVARD.EDU Understanding Motivation  9

 NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL ON THE DEVELOPING CHILD
• Challenge children just enough.
Kids are motivated to work toward
achievable goals. From infancy
onward, effort is required to sustain
motivation, but success must be
possible. They lose motivation when
a task is too easy, but also when it is
so difficult as to be insurmountable.
Video games harness this basic
principle of learning effectively,
constantly increasing the level of
challenge based on an individual
child’s performance. Try to adapt a
challenge according to a child’s current
capabilities, and provide prompt
feedback on his or her performance.
• Give children agency. Children are
more motivated when they have some
degree of self-determination, and can
elect to pursue tasks that are person-
ally meaningful. When they have a
choice of projects, or at least a little
wiggle room as to how a task gets
done, children are more likely to stay
engaged.15
• Provide incentives only when nec-
essary. When children are suddenly
rewarded for something they enjoy
and do freely, they may begin to do
it only when they know they will be
compensated afterwards.47 Wherever
possible, harness children’s natural cu-
riosity and inclination to work toward
an achievable goal, rather than promis-
ing a reward.
• Praise the process rather than the
outcome.47 When we praise children
for their intellect or skill level—or the
grade or gold medal they received—it
can lead to a performance orientation.
They may be motivated to achieve
10  Understanding Motivation WWW.DEVELOPINGCHILD.HARVARD.EDU
more rewards, but they may also learn
to shy away from challenging activities
that they might not excel at, for fear
of negative evaluation. Performance
pressure increases as children move
up in school, and it is associated with
depression and anxiety in addition
to diminished joy of learning. When
we praise children for their effort
and help them see falling short as an
opportunity to learn and improve
(rather than simply focus on the
outcome), they will be more motivated
to work hard and more likely to believe
that they can achieve what they put
their mind to.
• Maintain a close connection with
adolescents. Adolescence is a period
when many young people take risks
and push boundaries. This trend re-
flects, in large part, a natural inclina-
tion toward novel and exciting experi-
ences that maximize learning opportu-
nities and are important in making the
transition to independence. As teens
become more motivated by the ap-
proval of their peers, it can be socially
rewarding to follow risk-taking leaders
or stand out by breaking boundaries.
However, teens with close family re-
lationships are less prone to risk-tak-
ing.48 High parental support and open
dialogue are associated with fewer
problem behaviors, including less
substance abuse and delinquency. Be
empathetic and supportive, knowing
that youth are going through changes
in their brains, bodies, and social re-
lations that can make risky behavior
appealing to them. Keep the lines of
communication open—and keep close
tabs on teens.

Implications for Policy and Public Systems
• Support the development of motiva-
tion in early childhood programs.
Knowing that the brain systems under-
lying motivation begin to develop in
infancy, we can help children develop
the balanced systems they will need
later in life by starting in the earliest
years. High teacher-to-child ratios,
training in effective strategies to facili-
tate playful exploration and build self-
efficacy, reducing stress in families’
lives, and skill-building for parents and
providers of early care and education
are all contributors to ensuring that
the foundations of healthy motivation
systems are built in early childhood.
• Shift schools toward a balance of
positive feedback that supports in-
trinsic drivers. To improve student
motivation, school systems should re-
duce emphasis on extrinsic rewards
(like grades, tests, and performance-
based recognition programs) and
increase emphasis on constructive
feedback and coaching to improve
performance. Support and reward
exploration, praise effort, and use
successes in one area to inspire effort
in another, while avoiding punishment-
based approaches.
• Focus response to addiction on
treatment rather than punishment.
Policies and programs relating to ad-
dictions can be improved by under-
standing that addictive drugs rewire
and redirect motivation and reward
systems. Knowing that craving or
wanting addictive substances hap-
pens below the conscious level means
that solutions must also occur on the
physiological or biological level, rather
WWW.DEVELOPINGCHILD.HARVARD.EDU Understanding Motivation  11
IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY AND PUBLIC SYSTEMS
than expecting awareness of potential
punishments to change behavior.
• Include motivation-building sup-
ports in programs for adults who
care for young children. Foster a
growth mindset by praising effort,
looking at mistakes as learning op-
portunities, and monitoring progress
toward goals. Incorporate and test
promising methods for goal-setting
and keeping people on track to achieve
self-defined goals. These approaches
can not only improve retention in pro-
grams, but can also enable parents and
caregivers to model and support these
skills and mindsets in children.
• Replace punitive approaches to
program retention with methods
that reduce stress, provide positive
feedback and social/peer support,
and demonstrate quick successes.
Many programs designed to help fami-
lies with young children struggle to en-
gage parents to participate actively and
stay with the program long enough to
truly benefit. Many factors contribute
to program engagement and retention,
ranging from inconvenience of timing,
location, and transportation, to cost,
child care needs, and competition with
other activities or the needs of other
family members and friends. Along
with addressing those factors, pro-
grams can increase motivation to par-
ticipate by making it easier to rejoin
after a lapse (reducing stress), helping
participants achieve small successes
quickly (building self-efficacy), and
making participation more reward-
ing by praising effort (strengthening a
growth mindset).
NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL ON THE DEVELOPING CHILD
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WWW.DEVELOPINGCHILD.HARVARD.EDU Understanding Motivation  13

WORKING PAPER SERIES

Working Paper 1 Young Children Develop in an Environment of Relationships (2004)

Working Paper 2 Children’s Emotional Development is Built into the Architecture of their Brain (2004)

Working Paper 3 Excessive Stress Disrupts the Architecture of the Developing Brain (2005, updated 2014)

Working Paper 4 Early Exposure to Toxic Substances Damages Brain Architecture (2006)

Working Paper 5 The Timing and Quality of Early Experiences Combine to Shape Brain Architecture (2007)

Working Paper 6 Establishing a Level Foundation for Life: Mental Health Begins in Early Childhood (2008, updated 2012)

Working Paper 7 Workforce Development, Welfare Reform, and Child Well-Being (2008)

Working Paper 8 Maternal Depression Can Undermine the Development of Young Children (2009)

Working Paper 9 Persistent Fear and Anxiety Can Affect Young Children’s Learning and Development (2010)

Working Paper 10 Early Experiences Can Alter Gene Expression and Affect Long-Term Development (2010)

Working Paper 11 Building the Brain’s “Air Traffic Control” System: How Early Experiences Shape the Development of Executive Function (2011)

Working Paper 12 The Science of Neglect: The Persistent Absence of Responsive Care Disrupts the Developing Brain (2012)

Working Paper 13 Supportive Relationships and Active Skill-Building Strengthen the Foundations of Resilience (2015)

REPORTS

Early Childhood Program Evaluations: A Decision-Maker’s Guide (2007)

The Science of Early Childhood Development: Closing the Gap Between What We Know and What We Do (2007)

A Science-Based Framework for Early Childhood Policy: Using Evidence to Improve Outcomes in Learning, Behavior, and Health for
Vulnerable Children (2007)

The Foundations of Lifelong Health Are Built in Early Childhood (2010)

Building Core Capabilities for Life: The Science Behind the Skills Adults Need to Succeed in Parenting and in the Workplace (2016)

From Best Practices to Breakthrough Impacts: A Science-Based Approach to Building a More Promising Future for Young Children and Families (2016)

Applying the Science of Child Development in Child Welfare Systems (2016)

Three Principles to Improve Outcomes for Children and Families (2017)

50 Church Street, 4th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02138

617.496.0578
www.developingchild.harvard.edu
www.developingchild.net